Day 12: (Barcelona) Wait, It's Over Already!?

Wait a second.  I was just getting in my groove!  My sleep schedule is on track, I’m not exhausted during the tours, I feel great and I want to learn… and you’re telling me today’s the last day?!  WHAT?!  Where are you going?!  Where’s that taxi taking all you guys?!  Come back! Wait!!  I feel like a dog when it sees its owners going to the grocery store, but this time it’s me watching as the rest of my study abroad group leaves to go back home to Chicago while I continue my stay here in Europe.  It went by so fast it’s ridiculous… but at the same time, I look back on my first post and it feels like that first dinner together happened 4 months ago.

Before the trip started, I was really nervous that I was going to experience very intense culture shock.  I’ve barely travelled anywhere outside of the U.S. so I didn’t really know what to expect going all the way to Europe.  But when I got there, I didn’t really feel uncomfortable or out of place… Maybe it was because my professors and tour guides spoke both English and Spanish, or maybe because I knew a good amount of Spanish as well as was semi-familiar with the culture through my studies.  I’m not sure, but it was surprising and comforting to not feel the jarring culture shock that I’ve heard about too many times. 

I’ve talked briefly about this in some of my previous posts, but the Spanish culture is beautiful and I could gush about it forever.  What was most prominent to me from my time in Spain was the lack of shame and the acceptance that was shared by most everyone.  In the U.S., we’re so quick to judge, quick to classify something as “weird” as if we even know what that means, and so quick to staple the label of ‘odd’ or ‘different’ onto people we know and even complete strangers.  However, in Spain, I would see people dancing their hearts out to some proper house music and people either joining them or not batting an eyelash.  In the U.S. and I’ve seen this time and time again, people stare, walk away from or consciously ignore these people.  That’s weird.  This has also been displayed in smaller, more common instances like dropping and breaking a dish, tripping, and even talk about sex and sexuality – which is a whole other fish to fry.  When all of these things happened, us Americans looked with shady glares, which embarrassed, I caught myself, but the native Spanish people didn’t bat an eyelash.  There’s not that same outside pressure to be embarrassed by your mistakes or quirks here… And as a person who has a lot of quirks and makes a lot of mistakes, it’s calming.

Along these lines is how comfortable the Spaniards are with showing affection; which is that they do – anywhere, anytime, all the time.  I began noticing this trend as soon as we got to Madrid.  There were numerous people making out on public transportation, countless people sharing kisses, and even more couples cuddling in the parks on benches and blankets.  The first thought in my head, which I’m sure would be the same for many of you, was ‘Get a room…’  But even after the first day, I became ashamed that that was my first reaction to seeing two people sharing and expressing the love they have for each other. I don’t know, it just makes you think.  Love is supposed to be beautiful, kind, and accepted – but somehow our culture gets away with shaming it – calling it PDA and conditioning people to only practice it in private.  And when you practice it outside of the privacy of your own home, you’re either flirtatious, slutty, or some other negative connotation.  I really wish it wasn’t like that in the States and it makes me sad to go back to those norms after feeling how positive the energy was here in Spain…

This positive energy flows through almost everyone in Spain, or at least I’d argue that.  In my two weeks there, the only negative interaction I had with someone was with someone from my own group, from the United States.  Other than that, every interaction I had, with people from Spain and from other countries around the world, was nothing but positive and well-received.  In my sociology class I took my freshman year at DePaul, we talked a lot about a concept called “social inattention”.  Social inattention refers to the tendency of people to ignore and consciously refuse to interact with people, especially in public places.  A perfect example of this would be in an elevator or on the CTA; you’re surrounded by people who are in very close proximity to you, but you try your best not to talk, make eye contact with, or god forbid speak to a stranger.  Even when you’re with someone you know, you feel this underlying pressure to not speak in these places.

Here in Spain, that hardly existed.  All the times we went out to the bars (which okay, was twice) we ended up sharing a table with complete strangers, who were happy to have us sit down next to them.  In the U.S. people may have said yes, and then continued the conversation they were having with the people they came with, but in Spain, everyone was eager to interact and start a conversation.  This I really enjoyed, I like talking to strangers and making new connections and hearing new stories, but in the U.S. it’s much harder to do that since so many people are wary of strangers and close themselves off.  In Spain, everyone was very open and very willing to share ideas, personal experiences, and stories from their life.  It was refreshing and I found that I had made deeper, more meaningful connections with people in Spain fifteen minutes than I ever had with twice as much time with someone in the States. 

(Side note: shout out to Prof. Scott for being the coolest professor/mentor I’ve ever had)

Aside from all this, one thing I’ll definitely miss is the abundance of fresh fruit stands and generally fresh food in Europe.. It’s so delicious and I don’t think I’ve eaten one greasy thing since last month.

Now, I don’t mean to shit on the culture we have in the United States, and I’m sure that there are people and places in Spain that don’t display these characteristics, but being the observant cat I am, this is what I found.  I would like to point out that I have met people in the States who have intrigued me in five minutes and have broken the negative norms I have detailed above – so I’m positive that there are exceptions on both sides.  But, I did feel a much greater connection to the Spanish culture than I ever had in the States.  Maybe this is just the honeymoon phase from study abroad or maybe it’s the real deal – I guess we’ll see how bad my culture shock is when I get back to the States.  :)

This concludes Chapter 1 of my blog and all the posts relating to my Study Abroad trip to Madrid and Barcelona.  I'm hoping to continue this blog with all the future trips I take, domestic and international so feel free to continue along!  J   Next trip is commencing today – Chapter 2: Family Takes on Europe.